Happy birthday, Brita Sigourney, you’re going to the Olympics.
Sigourney, who turned 24 on Friday, finished ninth in a women’s ski halfpipe event in Park City, Utah. Her result didn’t matter. The results from other U.S. women meant Sigourney made the U.S. Olympic Team via her previous strong finishes.
American Maddie Bowman won the event on the very last run, scoring 92.20 points. France’s Marie Martinod was second at 89.8, followed by countrywoman Anais Cardeaux at 84.8.
Sigourney won Winter X Games silver in 2011 and bronze in 2012. She joins Bowman, the 2013 Winter X Games champion who turned 20 last Friday, on the U.S. Olympic Team in ski halfpipe. Bowman qualified for Sochi last week.
Angeli VanLaanen can clinch an automatic Olympic berth with a top-three finish in the fifth and final Olympic selection event Saturday.
Devin Logan, who earlier Friday made the U.S. Olympic Team in ski slopestyle, finished fifth Friday and can’t automatically qualify in halfpipe.
The U.S. Olympic Team in women’s ski halfpipe could include as many as four athletes when adding in possible discretionary selections.
Here are the Olympic selection standings:
Women’s Ski Halfpipe – Three automatic Olympic spots
1. Maddie Bowman — 200 (clinched Olympic berth)
2. Brita Sigourney — 180 (clinched Olympic berth)
3. Angeli VanLaanen — 130